Amazon is betting big on one of the key pieces of its MGM Studios deal with a new reality show for its Amazon Prime streaming platform.
What Happened: Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) announced an $8.45-billion acquisition of MGM Studios in May 2021. The deal closed in March, and Amazon is now turning one of the key MGM properties into a reality show.
A new James Bond reality show called “007’s Road to a Million” will come to Amazon Prime, according to a report from Variety.
Contestants will compete in a global adventure in two-person teams finding locations, competing in challenges and answering questions, similar to “The Amazing Race.” Many of the locations in the competition will be locations from former James Bond movies.
The winning team will win 1 million British pounds, or around $1.3 million.
The competition show is produced by 72 Films, MGM Television, Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli.
Production will begin on the series later this year and the show is currently casting contestants who can send in submissions to apply.
The series will stream on Prime Video in over 240 countries.
Related Link: Can 'No Time To Die' Set A James Bond Box Office Record?: Here's How The Previous 24 Bond Movies Performed
Why It’s Important: Variety reported that Amazon has planned to do a James Bond-themed reality show for four years, dating back prior to its acquisition of MGM Studios.
The acquisition of MGM Studios is the second largest in Amazon history and is seen as a major push for the company to grow its Amazon Prime streaming platform that faces competition with Netflix Inc (NASDAQ:NFLX), Hulu, Disney+ from The Walt Disney Co (NYSE:DIS) and AppleTV+ from Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL).
Netflix is one of many media companies betting heavily on reality shows to boost subscribers.
Amazon Prime Video is bumping up the amount of unscripted content in the U.K. with a slate that includes “All or Nothing: Tottenham Hotspur” about the English Premier League team and several other shows that could help grow the audience in the country.
The James Bond reality competition comes as the MGM franchise is searching for the next actor to play the highly coveted role.
Betting odds have Rege-Jean Page, Henry Cavill, Michael Fassbender and Tom Hardy as the favorites to be the next Bond.
Broccoli and Wilson said recently that a James Bond television spinoff isn’t planned at Amazon.
The James Bond movie franchise continues to be a massive box office performer. “No Time to Die,” the 25th film in the franchise, grossed $774 million worldwide.
AMZN Price Action: Amazon shares were down 1.66% at $3,330 Wednesday morning, according to Benzinga Pro.
